Trouble Magnet--A Pip & Flinx Adventure
by Alan Dean Foster
Published by Del Rey (November release)
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Reviewed by Bob Pike CSP, CPAE (Speakers Hall of Fame)
This is the twelfth novel in the Pip and Flinx series dating back to 1972--long before Foster started writing some of the more popular Star Wars novels.
Philip Linx (Flinx) is convinced that the Humanx empire (composed of Humans and Insect-like intelligent Thranx) is threatened with obliteration from a mysterious force called "The Great Emptiness," and he is probably right.
He has been gifted with special powers that he might be able to use to find and persuade other forces to step in and save the empire. But are they worth it? Flinx has seen the worst that the empire can offer so he detours to Visaria, a backwater planet, to do a little research. Is there something good and noble to be found within common people that is even worth saving? His first encounter says no as four thieves try to mug an offworlder and only Flinx and hisminidrag, Pip's intervention prevent another senseless killing.
Flinx finds himself drawn into helping a petty thief named Subar escape from a mugging/robbery gone bad. Subar reminds Flinx of himself who at one time was a petty thief on the planet Moth. But Subar is misdirected and does not see either the enormous consequences of the path he is walking. A member of a gang of young thieves always seeking the big score Subar looks up to his leader, Chaloni. He harbors deep desires for Chaloni's parampour, Zezula and does not realize the true gift he has in his friend, Ashile. They get drawn into complicated situations.
There are clear characters to love, hate, and feel sorry for. It is a little slow at times as Foster develops characters and locations and the ending is a bit abrupt as characters from past books come to the rescue, but these are small annoyances that had little impact on my enjoyment. Now I have started with book one, to read the entire series.
Armchair Interviews says: Readers who enjoy the idea that good will ultimately triumph over evil will enjoy not only this book, but the entire series.